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Bayer

Published August 03, 2017 Updated July 05, 2022

Humorous pharmaceutical deck made by Antoine van Genechten for Bayer, c.1963.

1963 Belgium Van Genechten Advertising Humour Medical & Pharmaceutical

Humorous pharmaceutical deck made by Antoine van Genechten for Bayer, c.1963. Medical products are featured on several cards and are being juggled by the jokers. See the Box

Bayer pharmaceutical playing cards, c.1963

Above: humorous pharmaceutical deck made by Antoine van Genechten for Bayer, c.1963. 52 cards + 2 jokers. Images courtesy Rex Pitts.


The following cartoon was drawn by Ronald Searle (St Trinians) and published in "The Female Approach" 1954.

cartoon drawn by Ronald Searle, 1954

Above: cartoon drawn by Ronald Searle, 1954. Courtesy Matt Probert.

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

Member since January 30, 2009

Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.

His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.

Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.


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